Whether you’re stumbling through the door after a night on the negronis or you’re Just. Too. Tired after a Netflix binge, taking off your makeup before bed can often slip down the must-do list.

Not cleansing the face of makeup at night is known to be a bad skin care habit. But if you need further evidence that you really shouldn’t go to bed in your mascara, you’ll do well to listen to the warning by Theresa Lynch.

As documented in a recent article published by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Lynch, a 50-year-old from Sydney, revealed that she was almost left blind after failing to remove her mascara properly for a period of 25 years. The photographic evidence is pretty graphic. Read more.